Bucket ONE

Software Synthesizer

Version 1.0

© 2023 by Björn Arlt @ Full Bucket Music

http://www.fullbucket.de/music

VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH

Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
The Audio Units logo is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 2

Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................3
About This Manual....................................3
YASH – Yet Another Simulated Hardware......4
Building A BIT Simulation From Bits............4
Words Of Wisdom.....................................5
Acknowledgments.....................................5
Overview..................................................6
Selecting PRGs.........................................6
SINGLE Mode...........................................6
SPLIT And DOUBLE Modes.........................6
Combi PRGs.............................................7
Comparing And Committing PRGs...............7
Editing PRGs............................................7
Browsing PRGs.........................................9
Volume Section........................................9
LOWER And UPPER Voices........................10
Control Section.......................................10
Voice Architecture....................................12
DCOs....................................................12
VCF......................................................12
VCA......................................................12
LFO 1 and 2...........................................12
SPLIT and DOUBLE Parameters.................13
Plugin Handling........................................14
Loading And Saving PRGs........................14
Options Menu.........................................14
The bucketone.ini Configuration File..........15
MIDI Control Change Messages................15
MIDI Learn............................................15
Plug-In Parameters..................................17
LFO 1....................................................17
VCF......................................................17
DCO 1...................................................18
DCO 2...................................................18
VCA......................................................18
LFO 2....................................................19
SPLIT + DOUBLE....................................19
Extension Parameters...............................20
Frequently Asked Questions.......................21
Bucket ONE Manual Page 3

Introduction
The Bucket ONE is a software synthesizer plug-in for Microsoft Windows
(VST2/VST3/CLAP) and Apple macOS (VST2/VST3/AU/CLAP) simulating the classic
Crumar BIT 01/99 synthesizers from 1985. It is written in native C++ code for high
performance even on “lighter” systems. The main features are:

● Close simulation of the original hardware

● Visual sound editor
● Up to 64 voices polyphony including Split and Double mode
● Two oscillators with three waveforms (triangle, sawtooth, pulse)
● Additional white noise generator
● Classic self-resonating four-pole lowpass filter
● Individual envelopes for VCF and VCA
● Two low frequency oscillators (LFOs)
● MTS-ESP (https://oddsound.com/) dynamic micro-tuning support
● All parameters can be controlled by MIDI controllers
● Plug-in supports Windows and macOS (32 bit and 64 bit)

The Bucket ONE is based on the new iPlug2 framework maintained by Oli Larkin
and the iPlug2 team. Big thanks, guys!!! Without your work it would not have been
possible to create a resizable Bucket ONE user interface.
To resize the plug-in you just grab the yellow triangle at the bottom right of the
window and drag it. You can save the current window size using the menu entry
“Save Window Size” in the Options Menu.
If you have trouble with the standard version of the Bucket ONE, please grab the
(sound-wise identical) “N” version of the plug-in which is based on the original iPlug
framework.

About This Manual

When you see this icon the manual will tell you something about the technical
aspects of the BIT series and/or the Bucket ONE plugin. You may safely skip the
respective section then – or not.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 4

YASH – Yet Another Simulated Hardware

Why am I doing this? The answer is simple: Because it is fun. And I sold my good old
BIT ONE years ago, and I miss it so much (except for the metal side panels close to
the keyboard which eventually hurt your pinkies when playing the C1 or C6).
The BIT ONE and its successor, the BIT 01/99 simulated here (the BIT 01 is the rack
version of the BIT 99), entered the stage in 1984 and 1985 respectively. Built by the
Italian company Crumar which is famous for their string ensembles, synths, and
combi keyboards/organs, these units were also sold under the labels “Unique” and
“LEM”. There was nothing special about the BITs except that they were pretty
inexpensive and offered keyboard velocity! Wow! [I am not sarcastic here.]
Fun fact: The main developer of the BIT synthesizers, Mario Maggi, previously had
designed the Elka Synthex.

Building A BIT Simulation From Bits

Again it’s the old dilemma: I want to simulate a unit that I do not own (anymore).
Unfortunately, there is not much information available about the BITs. Luckily, I found
their schematics, their owner’s manuals – and images of their firmware ROM chips.
Such a ROM contains the program memory of the micro controller unit (MCU, in case
of the BITs an 8031) that controls a BIT.
A bold idea arose in my crazed mind: Why not build a prototype plugin that simulates
the MCU plus the hardware of a BIT and then model the final Bucket ONE plugin
according to that prototype?
[They call me mad, but I will show them, ahahaHAHAHAHA!]
For the plugin I chose as base model the BIT 01 rack expander: The schematics are a
little bit simpler, and somehow a plugin is more like a rack expander itself (it does not
contain a physical keyboard).
The next step was to translate the byte code of the ROM into a human readable
assembler code. There are lots of freeware programs that can do this job – I used
DASMx. From this code and the schematics I identified the specific input/output
registers controlling the hardware components of the BIT 01 (DCOs, VCF, amplifiers
etc.). A pretty tedious work, especially when you know that assembler code soon gets
ugly and contains massives amount of jumps (the technical term is “Spaghetti Code”).
The BIT’s LFOs and envelopes are computed by the MCU in real-time, and the same is
true for handling MIDI and program data, as well as buttons and LED displays (“user
interface”). Thus, I wrote a piece of code that emulates an 8031 MCU and integrated it
into the prototype plugin. After a lot of frustration and joy I finally got a reasonably
working BIT 01 MCU simulator which was the starting point of my Bucket ONE plugin.
Why didn’t I stop here? Why not releasing the MCU simulator plugin itself but instead
going even more steps beyond and building another plugin? Here’s why:
● The MCU simulator plugin has only 6 voices – like the BITs.
● The MCU simulator’s CPU load is pretty high.
● Changing sound parameters typically does not affect already playing notes.
● It is buggy as hell.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 5

● More...
I did not dare to extend the original BIT 01 ROM code to fix these issues, and I really
was concerned about the plugin’s performance. Finally, it is much more comfortable
and effective to write a plugin in “modern” C++!

Words Of Wisdom
So here we are, the Bucket ONE awaits you. It has all the quirky things of the ancient
machines in it, and feature-wise it is in no way a competitor to modern software
instruments. Same is true with respect to usability although I integrated a nice sound
editor. And of course my usual warning: It does not sound like the original BITs, not
even close, it never will, you know, analog fairy dust and all that stuff… 

Acknowledgments
 Oli Larkin and the iPlug2 team.
 kraftraum (https://soundcloud.com/kraftraum) has designed many of the default
patches, and I was able to win him for Beta Testing again – thank you!!!
 Georg Müller aka swissdoc for providing the factory patches as well as
invaluable information about the BITs.
 My family for bearing me and my crude hobby.
No, I am not affiliated with Crumar (nor KORG) in what relation ever except that I find
myself entangled with their instruments. 
Bucket ONE Manual Page 6

Overview
The Bucket ONE like the BIT 01/99, features 75 sound programs or presets (called
“sound PRGs”) and 24 combination programs (called “combi PRGs”) which are splitted
or stacked combinations of two sound PRGs over the keyboard. Note that the first
mode of the BIT series, the BIT ONE, only has 63 sound PRGs and no combi PRGs!
The PRGs themselves don’t have names, just numbers (1–75 for sound PRGs and 76–
99 for combi PRGs). Those were the 80’s.
Furthermore, the Bucket ONE has three keyboard modes: SINGLE, DOUBLE, and
SPLIT. As you may guess, the DOUBLE and SPLIT modes combine two sound PRGs,
the LOWER and the UPPER, and such a combination can be saved as a combi PRG.

Selecting PRGs
Pretty simple: In SINGLE mode click the LOWER
button (if not already lit) and then either enter a PRG
number using the number button 0 to 9, or click the
OFF/– or ON/+ buttons respectively.
When you enter a PRG number greater than 75, you
will select a combi PRG (see below). This is only
possible via the number buttons!

SINGLE Mode
In SINGLE mode you only will play and hear the
LOWER sound PRG alone. The Bucket ONE starts
automatically in SINGLE mode with LOWER sound
PRG 1.

SPLIT And DOUBLE Modes

Clicking one of the buttons SPLIT or DOUBLE will
activate the respective keyboard mode. Now you can
also select an UPPER sound PRG after clicking the
UPPER button. To return to SINGLE mode, uncheck
the activated SPLIT or DOUBLE button.
There are some parameters controlling the split point
and the transpose of the UPPER part in SPLIT mode
(see section SPLIT and DOUBLE Parameters). You
can also adjust the relative volume of the LOWER
and UPPER parts (apart from the Volume section, see
Volume Section)

Combi PRGs
The realm of combi PRGs is entered when you select a PRG number from 76 to 99.
Combi PRGs store the values that you can manually set in SPLIT or DOUBLE mode:
Split point and UPPER part transpose, LOWER and UPPER part volumes as well as
LOWER and UPPER PRG numbers (see section SPLIT and DOUBLE Parameters).
Bucket ONE Manual Page 7

Important note:
Combi PRGs do not store sound PRG data!
Assume that you have a combi PRG #99 using the
sound PRG #58 for the LOWER part. Now if you
change the sound PRG #58, the combi PRG #99 will
use that new sound and may itself sound different
than expected!
To return to a “normal” sound PRG (in SINGLE mode)
you have to hit one of the SPLIT or DOUBLE buttons
– whatever is lit.

Comparing And Committing PRGs

Once you have edited a PRG (see section Editing PRGs) you can compare it with the
original stored PRG – just click the COMPARE button, and click it again to return to
your edited sound.
To commit (“write” or “save”) a PRG, click the PARK/WRITE button; the current sound
data will be “parked” in a temporary space. Now you can select a different PRG (but
you don’t have to), and when you click the lit PARK/WRITE button again, the sound
data of the selected PRG will be overridden with the “parked” sound data you wanted
to commit.
Note that you can cancel the commit action by clicking the COMPARE button.

Editing PRGs
It is 1985. Most of the modern synthesizers have a sophisticated new way of editing
sound data: Select a parameter via number buttons and enter the parameter value via
up/down buttons. The original BIT 99 manual states:
«Unlike instruments of older design, the BIT 99 does not use a vast array of knobs
and buttons, pots and switches to alter and set the various parameters which
together shape and form a sound. Instead, modern microprocessor technology
takes the heartbreak out of finding a path through the electronic jungle!»
Let’s get this straight: Marketing guys of the 80’s wanted to sell us this new pain of
editing as the fresh and modern way of the brave new digital world. In fact it was all
about saving material cost (the “vast array of
buttons, pots, and switches”) and drastically
reducing the retail price for such a product. Which
was a good thing too, or else many folks like me, the
poor student Björn, never could have afforded a
polyphonic synthesizers like a BIT!
OK, now all you have to do is to change to EDIT
mode by clicking the ADDRESS button. Type in the
number of a sound parameter using the number
buttons and edit the parameter value using the
OFF/– and ON/+ buttons (luckily, the values will
increase or decrease fast when you “hold” one of
Bucket ONE Manual Page 8

these buttons a bit longer). Given that the Bucket ONE has 63 sound parameters and
another 4 more for combi PRGs, it really is a PITA.
The Bucket ONE (like the BITs) has all the parameters and their address numbers
displayed in a nice diagram on the main panel of the instrument. When you click on
one of those parameters you will immediately be taken to the respective address. Of
course this was not possible with the original BITs!
The same is true for this handy feature: An edited PRG will be denoted by a red dot in
the PRG number display (or in the address display for combi PRGs).

But even more when you click on the EDIT button you get a fancy editor with that
vast array of buttons, pots, and switches!

Note that this way you will always edit the LOWER PRG – it is not possible to edit the
UPPER PRG directly.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 9

Browsing PRGs
A nice way of selecting PRGs is using the browser feature of the Bucket ONE. Clicking
the BROWSER button opens the browser panel where you can select one of the factory
PRGs or a PRG file stored on your local hard drive.

All the factory PRGs of the Bucket ONE are “burned-into” the plug-in itself – there is
no way of “losing” them. This is also the reason why they show up with fancy names
here (remember that PRGs do not have names but numbers only) – the names are
stored in the plug-in as well.
Once you select a PRG in the browser it will switch to the program number shown left
to the program’s name and set the respective sound data.
When you click the PATH button you will see (or not) the PRGs that are stored at the
given path of your local drive (you can change the path by clicking the text box
showing the path itself). These are MIDI System Exclusive (.syx) files in the original
BIT 01/99 format.
The Bucket ONE tries to parse them and only shows “valid”
sound files along with their respective program numbers and
the file names (without the “.syx” extension). Thus, you can
come up with nice PRG names by choosing decent names for
your sound files. A counterexample is shown in the image to
the right. 

Volume Section
It looks straight forward, but of course there is a twist: You can set the
overall volume and stereo panorama for both the LOWER and UPPER
part individually (when the LINK button is lit, the respective sliders and
knobs are linked and are conveniently set together). This makes
perfect sense in SPLIT and DOUBLE mode, but what happens in
SINGLE mode? Naively one might think that only the LOWER controls
would have any effect on the sound, but that is not true: In fact the
LOWER and UPPER slider/knobs control the volume and panorama of
the respective LOWER and UPPER voices (see next section LOWER And
UPPER Voices)
Bucket ONE Manual Page 10

LOWER And UPPER Voices

Technically speaking, the Bucket ONE and the BITs have two sets of voices: One set
for the LOWER and one for the UPPER part. For the BIT 01/99, the number of voices
per part is 3 which makes in sum 6. Thus, in SINGLE mode all the voices of both parts
are combined to make up a 6-voice polyphonic instrument.
Depending on the number of voices selected (6, 16, 32, or 64), the Bucket ONE can
have more voices for the LOWER and UPPER parts (3, 8, 16, or 32). But anyway, since
the voices are organized in two parts, the volume and panorama or their part’s sum
can be controlled individually, too.
Now in SINGLE mode the question is how notes are scheduled to voices: Will a note
be played by a LOWER or an UPPER voice? This can have some funny side effects
since volume and panorama of the parts might be set differently!
By default, the Bucket ONE schedules each new note to a different part than the note
before – the voice scheduling mode is alternating: The first note goes to LOWER, the
second note to UPPER, the third again to LOWER and so on. This pattern gives some
nice stereo effect when you select a different panorama setting for the LOWER and
UPPER parts.
The BITs behave different since they schedule the first three notes to the LOWER and
the last three to the UPPER part. This might sound a bit odd when you use heavy
stereo panning. Anyway you can set the Bucket ONE to that mode, too – see next
section.

Control Section
In the control section you will find some global parameters that may or may not affect
the sound generation of the Bucket ONE.

● VCF FM START and STOP:

These two parameters control the minimum and maximum value of the VCF’s cutoff
frequency when modulated by any modulation source (envelope, key track, velocity,
LFOs). Within the original BITs those values depend (among others) on the setting of
many trimming potentiometers and may change from model to model. However, the
default values of the parameters are taken as “best guesses”, and you might never
need to change them.
● LFO FM and BEND
These two parameters set the maximum amount of frequency modulation of the DCOs
by the LFOs and/or Pitch Bend information (in half note steps). The reasoning is the
same as above.
● DETUNE DEPTH and INIT
Same thing for the DEPTH of the DETUNE parameter. And the DETUNE INIT
determines the initial amount of detuning of DCO 1 and 2 when the DETUNE
Bucket ONE Manual Page 11

parameter is set to 0. There always will be some slight detuning of the two DCOs in
the BIT hardware, even though they are digitally controlled. This is because the two
master oscillators of the 6 + 6 DCOs never are in perfect tune – they are made of
uncoupled analog circuitry.
[What? The BITs use master oscillators? Are the BITs just better organs using frequency divider circuitry?
Yes, almost: The frequency dividers are standard 8253 chips featuring programmable counters/dividers.
But to say that the BITs are “just better organs” is highly unfair!]

● UPDATE RATE
Real-time processing inside synthesizers like the BIT means that the normal work of
the internal processor is interrupted in regular intervals to manage incoming MIDI
data, update envelopes and LFOs etc. The MCU 8031 inside the BITs isn’t the fastest
in the world, and thus the internal update rate is about 325 Hz. You can set the
Bucket ONE’s update rate to this (lower) value by checking the UPDATE RATE button.
● STEREO MODE
As described in section LOWER And UPPER Voices the Bucket ONE schedules incoming
notes to alternating voice parts (LOWER or UPPER). When you check this button, the
part scheduling of the original BITs will be applied.
● LINKED LFOs
There is another secret that no one has told you before: The BITs indeed do only have
two LFOs – for all 6 voices and for the two parts (LOWER and UPPER) together. Now
what happens when you register two different sound PRGs in SPLIT or DOUBLE mode?
Well, in this case the LFO settings of the LOWER PRG are used for the UPPER PRG,
too. Thus, your UPPER sound might sound totally different than when you select it in
SINGLE mode!
This was always confusing me when I played my good old BIT ONE back in the days.
And that’s why the Bucket ONE by default uses two sets of LFOs per part (four LFOs in
total), so even the UPPER sound will get its own and correct LFO settings. But if you
want to change back to the original behavior: Check the LINKED LFOs button.
● FREQ SCALE
The use of frequency divider technology (see above) has its drawbacks. One is that
you practically cannot cover the whole frequency range of about 10 MIDI octaves, and
the other is that you cannot set the exact frequency values for each note. Luckily the
BITs were laid out for 5-octave keyboards… check the FREQ SCALE button to hear how
frequency scaling was originally done.
● LEARN and MENU
Those buttons will be described below.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 12

Voice Architecture
It is pretty simple: Two DCOs going into a single VCF and a single VCA with individual
envelope generators plus two global LFOs.

DCOs
I personally think that the term “DCO” – Digitally Controlled Oscillator – is a
misnomer. In fact the signal generated by an oscillator of the BIT series is derived
directly from a 5 bit digital-analog converter (DAC) driven by a modulo counter. The
result is a “staircase sawtooth”, and the two other available waveforms (triangle and
pulse) are created via additional analog circuitry. Due to that treatment the triangle
signal is very “rough” and sounds a bit dirty.
The nice thing is that all three waveforms of an DCO can be combined (yet not
continuously mixed). The pulse width can be controlled manual and via velocity
information – but not via the LFOs.
Besides the frequency range (32’, 16’, 8’, 4’) you can also set an additional interval
(FREQ.) per oscillator. DCO 1 also allows you to add some NOISE while DCO 2
features the DETUNE parameter.

VCF
The VCF (Voltage Controlled Filter) of a BIT’s voice, a four-pole lowpass, is
realized using a CEM 3328 chip which is a low-cost variant of the CEM 3320 that was
built into classic instruments like the OB-Xa, Synthex, and many many more. The
Bucket ONE humbly tries to recreate it and fails. 
Parameters are almost standard: Cutoff frequency, resonance, keyboard tracking,
envelope intensity, and velocity-controlled envelope intensity (nice!). You can invert
the whole frequency modulation stuff, and you have a dedicated ADSR envelope
where the Attack time can be modulated by velocity, too!

VCA
For the VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) you can set the program level and velocity
intensity. It has its own ADSR which is identical to the VCF’s envelope (including
velocity-controlled Attack time).

LFO 1 and 2
There is one global LFO 1 (Low Frequency Oscillator) and one LFO 2 for the whole
instrument (well, the Bucket ONE by default has one pair of LFOs per part, see section
Control Section). The only difference is that LFO 1 offers a rising Sawtooth while
LFO 2 instead has a falling one. Alternatively you can select a Triangle or a Square
wave, or switch the LFO off.
The modulation targets are DCO 1 and DCO 2 frequency, VCF cutoff frequency and
VCA level, but unfortunately the modulation depth cannot be set individually per
destination. The same is true for the intensity of the MIDI Modulation Wheel
controlling the LFO modulation, and this intensity has to be set for both LFOs together.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 13

However, you have the option to set a delay time until the full modulation amount
builds up. Since the LFOs are global and not per voice, the delay function is re-
triggered with each note key pressed.
Another very impressive feature is that the rate of an LFO can be controlled by
velocity.

SPLIT and DOUBLE Parameters

In SPLIT and DOUBLE mode you will find four more parameters: LOWER and UPPER
volume level, SPLIT POINT and UPPER TRANS(POSE).
Some words about the latter two parameters which only have significance in SPLIT
mode. Their values range from 1 to 61 with respect to the 61 keys on a five-octave
keyboard. “1” represents C1 where C1 = MIDI note number 36 (the lowest note on a
BIT 99 keyboard), and “61” represents C6 = MIDI note number 96 (the highest note
on a BIT 99 keyboard). Thus, the SPLIT POINT parameter defines the first key on the
keyboard where the UPPER part “starts to play”.
Now for the UPPER TRANS parameter things get a little bit complicated: Its parameter
value actually denotes which note will be played for the first note of the UPPER part
i.e. the note at the split point. Say that SPLIT POINT is set to “25” (C3 = MIDI note
number 60) and UPPER TRANS to “25”, then the note actually played by the UPPER
part at the split point is C3 – the UPPER part is not transposed at all. When you set
UPPER TRANS to “1”, then the note played at the split point is C1 – the UPPER part is
transpose two octaves downwards. On the other hand, UPPER TRANS = “61” leads to
a 3-octave upwards transposition, but when you set SPLIT POINT to “1” this changes
to a full 5-octave transposition!
While this is technically logical, it is also musically very counter-intuitive, and UPPER
TRANS(POSE) is something like a misnomer. Remember: The value set at UPPER
TRANS corresponds to the keyboard note (C1 to C6) played for the first note of the
UPPER part at the SPLIT POINT. Ouch.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 14

Plugin Handling

Loading And Saving PRGs

As stated earlier (see section Browsing PRGs) the Bucket ONE reads and saves PRG
data as MIDI System Exclusive files with file extension “.syx” in the original BIT 01/99
format. You can read/save PRGs from menus at various places, for example from the
Options Menu or by right-clicking the LOWER, UPPER and ADDRESS LED display.
Depending on the context, the context menus (sic!) may not always show all entries
or might not open at all – the Bucket ONE figures out what can be done in the current
situation and tries not to flood you with inaccessible menu entries.

Options Menu
When clicking the Menu button in the Control section (see Control Section), a context
menu opens with the following options:

Init PRG Initialize the current LOWER PRG

Load Lower PRG Load a System Exclusive file containing sound data to
the Bucket ONE's current LOWER PRG
Load Upper PRG Only available in SPLIT or DOUBLE mode:
Load a System Exclusive file containing sound data to
the Bucket ONE's current UPPER PRG
Load Combi PRG Only available when a combi PRG is selected:
Load a System Exclusive file containing combination
data to the Bucket ONE's current combi PRG
Load SysEx File Load a System Exclusive file into the Bucket ONE and
see what’s happening
Restore Factory PRGs Restore the original factory PRGs
Save Lower PRG Save the Bucket ONE's current LOWER PRG to a System
Exclusive file
Save Upper PRG Only available in SPLIT or DOUBLE mode:
Save the Bucket ONE's current UPPER PRG to a System
Exclusive file
Save Lower PRG Only available when a combi PRG is selected:
Save the Bucket ONE's current combi PRG to a System
Exclusive file
Save All PRGs As Saves all sound and combi PRGs consecutively in one
Single File big System Exclusive file. You can reload that file using
the “Load SysEx File” function above.
Default Path for PRG Sets the default path for reading and saving PRG files
Files...
Default Path for SysEx Sets the default path for reading and saving System
Files... Exclusive files
MIDI Thru Set globally if MIDI data sent to the Bucket ONE should
Bucket ONE Manual Page 15

be sent through to its MIDI output

Ignore Program Set globally if MIDI Program Change data sent to the
Change Bucket ONE should be ignored
Reload Configuration Reload the Bucket ONE's configuration file (see section
The bucketone.ini Configuration File)
Save Configuration Save the Bucket ONE's configuration file (see section
The bucketone.ini Configuration File)
Window Size… Change the window size of the Bucket ONE
Save Window Size Stores the current window size to the configuration file
so that it will be restored next time you load the Bucket
ONE
Check Online for When connected to the Internet, this function will check
Update if a newer version of the Bucket ONE is available at
fullbucket.de
Visit fullbucket.de Open fullbucket.de in your standard browser

The bucketone.ini Configuration File

The Bucket ONE is able to read some settings from a configuration file
(bucketone.ini). The exact location of this file depends on your operating system
and will be displayed when you click on “Reload” or “Save Configuration”.

MIDI Control Change Messages

All parameters of the Bucket ONE can be controlled by MIDI controllers, or more
precise: Each MIDI controller (except Modulation Wheel and Sustain Pedal) can control
one of Bucket ONE's parameters. The mapping is defined in the bucketone.ini for
example like this:
[MIDI Control]
CC7 = 4 # Volume
CC70 = 32 # Filter 1 Cutoff
CC71 = 33 # Filter 1 Resonance
...

The syntax is straight forward:

CC<controller number> = <parameter ID>
Given the above example, controller 7 directly controls the overall Volume parameter,
controller 74 the Filter 1 Cutoff etc. As you can see, comments are introduced by the
Pound sign (#); they are here just for description purposes and completely optional.
Note that the controller number can run from 0 to 110, with the exception of 1
(Modulation Wheel) and 64 (Sustain Pedal); the latter two are simply ignored.

MIDI Learn
The easiest way to assign MIDI controllers to Bucket ONE parameters is to use the
MIDI Learn function. To activate MIDI Learn, click on the LEARN button and wiggle
Bucket ONE Manual Page 16

both the MIDI controller and the Bucket ONE's parameter that you want to link. If you
want to unlearn the assignment, right-click the LEARN button (the label now reads
“UNLRN”) and activate it. Now wiggle the MIDI controller or the parameter that you
want to unlearn.
Bucket ONE Manual Page 17

Plug-In Parameters
The Plug-in parameters represent all the parameters that are available on the original
BITs and printed on their main panel. However, they are organized a little bit more
efficient (see for example LFO 1+2 Waveform and DCO 1+2 Octave), and their IDs do
not match the addresses of the panel parameters.

LFO 1
parameter id description
Waveform 0 Waveform (0 = Triangle, 1 = rising Sawtooth, 2 = Square)
DCO 1 1 DCO 1 frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
DCO 2 2 DCO 2 frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
VCF 3 VCF cutoff frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
VCA 4 VCA level modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
Delay 5 Delay time (0 – 63)
Rate 6 LFO Rate (0 – 63)
Rate Dynamic 7 Intensity of Rate modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Depth 8 Modulation amount (0 – 63)
Wheel Amount 9 Intensity of Depth modulation by Mod. Wheel (0 – 63)

VCF
parameter id description
Attack 10 Attack time of envelope (0 – 63)
Decay 11 Decay time of envelope (0 – 63)
Sustain 12 Sustain level of envelope (0 – 63)
Release 13 Release time of envelope (0 – 63)
Attack Dynamic 14 Intensity of Attack time modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Track 15 Keyboard tracking (0 – 63)
Cutoff 16 Cutoff frequency (0 – 63)
Resonance 17 Resonance (0 – 63)
Envelope 18 Envelope amount
Envelope Dynamic 19 Intensity of Envelope modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Invert Envelope 20 Inversion of cutoff frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
Bucket ONE Manual Page 18

DCO 1
parameter id description
Octave 21 Octave (0 = 32’, 1 = 16’, 2 = 8’, 3 = 4’)
Triangle 22 Triangle wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Sawtooth 23 Sawtooth wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Pulse 24 Pulse wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Frequency 25 Frequency interval (0 – 11 notes)
Pulse Width 26 Pulse width (0 – 30)
Pulse Width Dyn. 27 Intensity of Pulse Width modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Noise 28 Noise level (0 – 63)

DCO 2
parameter id description
Octave 29 Octave (0 = 32’, 1 = 16’, 2 = 8’, 3 = 4’)
Triangle 30 Triangle wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Sawtooth 31 Sawtooth wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Pulse 32 Pulse wave (0 = off, 1 = on)
Frequency 33 Frequency interval (0 – 11 notes)
Pulse Width 34 Pulse width (0 – 30)
Pulse Width Dyn. 35 Intensity of Pulse Width modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Detune 36 Detune (0 – 63)

VCA
parameter id description
Attack Dynamic 37 Intensity of Attack time modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Amount Dynamic 38 Intensity of VCA level modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Program Volume 39 Programmable volume of PRG (0 – 63)
Attack 40 Attack time of envelope (0 – 63)
Decay 41 Decay time of envelope (0 – 63)
Sustain 42 Sustain level of envelope (0 – 63)
Release 43 Release time of envelope (0 – 63)
Bucket ONE Manual Page 19

LFO 2
parameter id description
Waveform 44 Waveform (0 = Triangle, 1 = falling Sawtooth, 2 = Square)
DCO 1 45 DCO 1 frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
DCO 2 46 DCO 2 frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
VCF 47 VCF cutoff frequency modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
VCA 48 VCA level modulation (0 = off, 1 = on)
Delay 49 Delay time (0 – 63)
Rate 50 LFO Rate (0 – 63)
Rate Dynamic 51 Intensity of Rate modulation by velocity (0 – 63)
Depth 52 Modulation amount (0 – 63)

SPLIT + DOUBLE
parameter id description
Split Point 53 Split point (1 – 61; SPLIT mode only)
Upper Transpose 54 Transpose of UPPER PRG (1 – 61; SPLIT mode only)
Lower Volume 55 Programmable LOWER volume (0 – 63)
Upper Volume 56 Programmable UPPER volume (0 – 63)
Bucket ONE Manual Page 20

Extension Parameters
These parameters are global parameters that are used to manage the plug-in.

parameter id description
Master Tune 57 Master tune (± 1 note)
Keyboard Mode 58 Keyboard mode (Single, Split, Double)
Lower Volume 59 Lower part volume (fader)
Upper Volume 60 Upper part volume (fader)
Lower Pan 61 Lower part panorama
Upper Pan 62 Upper part panorama
Program Number 63 Current PRG number (equals Lower PRG number in SINGLE
mode and combi PRG number for a combi PRG)
Lower Program 64 Current Lower PRG number
Upper Program 65 Current Upper PRG number
Voices 66 Number of polyphonic voices (5, 16, 32, 64)
Update Rate 67 Update rate (High, BIT)
Stereo Mode 68 Stereo Mode (Alternating, BIT)
Linked LFOs 69 Linked Lower + Upper LFOs (Off, On)
Frequency Scale 70 Frequency scale (Equal, BIT)
VCF FM Start 71 Minimum cutoff freq. of VCF modulation (8.2 – 19912 Hz)
VCF FM Stop 72 Maximum cutoff freq. of VCF modulation (8.2 – 19912 Hz)
Pitch Bend Range 73 Pitch Bend range (0 – 24 notes)
LFO FM Range 74 LFO to DCO frequency modulation range (0 – 12 notes)
Detune Depth 75 Maximum Detune of DCO 2 (0 – 2 notes)
Detune Init 76 Initial Detuneof DCO2 (0 – 0.1 notes)
Bucket ONE Manual Page 21

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I install the Bucket ONE (Windows VST2 32 bit version)?
Just copy the files bucketone.dll and bucketone.ini from the ZIP archive you have
downloaded to your system's or favorite DAW's VST2 plug-in folder. Your DAW should
automatically register the Bucket ONE VST2 plug-in the next time you start it.

How do I install the Bucket ONE (Windows VST2 64 bit version)?

Just copy the file bucketone64.dll and bucketone.ini from the ZIP archive you
have downloaded to your system's or favorite DAW's VST2 plug-in folder. Your DAW
should automatically register the Bucket ONE VST2 plug-in the next time you start it.
Note: You may have to remove any existing (32 bit) bucketone.dll from your VST2
plug-in folder or else your DAW may screw the versions up…

How do I install the Bucket ONE (Windows VST3 64 bit version)?

Just copy the files bucketone.vst3 from the ZIP archive you have downloaded to your
system's or favorite DAW's VST3 plug-in folder. Your DAW should automatically
register the Bucket ONE VST3 plug-in the next time you start it.

How do I install the Bucket ONE (Mac VST2/VST3/AU 64 bit)?

Locate the downloaded PKG package file bucketone_1_0_0_mac.pkg in Finder (!) and
do a right- or control-click on it. In the context menu, click on “Open”. You will be
asked if you really want to install the package because it comes from an “unidentified
developer” (me J). Click “OK” and follow the installation instructions.

What is the plug-in ID of the Bucket ONE?

The ID is f b - 1 .

Come on, Bucketeer, yet another boring simulation?

Yup, nostalgia. If you get bored, don’t download it. The trash bin is your friend, too.

Where are all the PRGs stored?

All the 99 PRGs are stored along with the state of the plug-in. If you have two
instance of the Bucket ONE in a DAW project then each of those instance comes with
its own set of 99 PRGs – the two sets will not interfere with each other.

Huh? Suddenly my combi PRG sounds different than before!?

See section Combi PRGs: Combi PRGs do not store sound PRG data but only the
parameters of the SPLIT and DOUBLE modes.

The browser list is empty when I click the “Path” button!

In this case there are no Bucket ONE-compatible System Exclusive at the respective
path.